!Bang Bang! Pie & Biscuits

Today we are reviewing !Bang Bang! Pie & Biscuits in Logan Square.

Ruben:
So after years of hearing about how awesome Bang bang! pie was i finally got there on a cloudy january day. Max and Otto since they live right by Bang bang go there regularly but i have never been. I really liked the atmosphere of the place it felt very nice and small with a rustic feel with red picnic tables and stringed lights in the back yard. I actually can't wait to go back here in the summer cause of the yard also they have garden in the summer which they grow fresh veggies. I asked max and Otto what i should get? they recommended the scratch biscuit which is just a homemade fresh biscuit with honey mustard butter and fresh made jam. I would say the biscuit was okay but it had way to much lard and butter for my taste. It was so moist and basically  was almost falling apart. The jam did balanced it out but the butter just added to the fat so it just made it worse. Although there are biscuit sandwiches on the menu so that might balance it out so i have to try that. The pie is good. It was good it was fresh but i don't really think it was amazing a lot of people think it is. Maybe i'm missing something or the flavor we got was not the best thing on the menu or something like that. We got the raspberry jam tart and the blood orange meringue. I thought the meringue was really amazing and the rassberry filling in the raspberry pie was really good. I have to try some more things at Bang bang pie but for now i'm giving 3 plates i will do a another review in the future so stay tuned. Keep on tasting, Ruben.

Max:
I have been going to !Bang Bang! Pie since they first opened. And we have always tried to convince Ruben to try them, but we never did...until now. Their biscuits are maybe the best in Chicago. I'm seriously not joking. I have never tried a biscuit as good as theirs. My mom tried to make a biscuit as good as theirs, but she wasn't even close. (She's actually a good baker, but that's how good these biscuits are.) We all started with some Scratch Biscuits. They come with seasonal jam and honey butter. I also added a poached egg to it. Like I said, the biscuit is amazing, and one of the reasons that makes it taste so good is the lard and butter inside of it. The seasonal jam was blueberry. It was very good. The honey butter was delicious, although the biscuit is already so buttery that I don't completely see why you should put it on. The poached egg was also delicious. It was served with salt, pepper and chives. The egg was perfectly done. The yolk was runny, but I like it like that. The chives went amazingly well with the egg, and it inspires me to do the same next time I make a poached egg. After that, we ordered the Blood Orange Meringue. I actually didn't try any of it because I was so full after the biscuit, but I've had it on a previous visit. I also want to talk about their pie. They change their pie menu frequently and seasonally. So they don't always have the same pie on the menu. But they usually have at least one custard pie, one fruit pie, and than also a sweet pie, like chocolate. The Key Lime pie is my favorite pie on the menu. It's sour, but it's so good. And this time when we went they didn't have the key lime pie on the menu, but that was fine because we didn't order it. I actually think that their biscuits are a little better than their pie, but I still like them both a lot. They also have fresh squeezed orange juice and hot cider. Today I got the fresh squeezed orange juice. The atmosphere is really rustic and cool. It's a little small, and it was crowded when we came, so it took a little while before we got a seat, but that was fine. They also have a patio in their backyard, so you can sit outside when it's warm out. I think that !Bang Bang! Pie & Biscuits is one of my favorite bakeries in at Chicago so I give !Bang Bang! 5 plates.

Otto:
I love !Bang Bang! Pie Shop. They have the best biscuits I have ever had. I got the Scratch Biscuit, which automatically comes with jam and butter, but I just eat it plain. It's so good it doesn't need anything else anyway. I also like their sweet and custard pies. I usually get either a chocolate or a lemon or lime one. This time they didn't have either of those, so I tried the Blood Orange Meringue. I didn't like it as much. It tasted too strongly of the blood orange for me. I guess I don't like orange as much as lemon or lime, as least not in pie. I also got a cup of hot cider, which was really good (especially on such a cold and rainy day). I really like going there when it is warm enough to sit outside. They have a really nice patio. I give them 5 plates.

Waiting for biscuits.

Group shot.

Biscuits and pie.

Backyard.

Oiistar

Happy Anniversary to us! Chicago Food Boys is now 1 year old! For our celebratory lunch, we were trying to decide if we should revisit a place we had all loved, or if we should try something new. Two of our favorite meals were the ramen at Urban Belly and at Slurping Turtle, so we decided maybe we should try another ramen place. We went to Oiistar in Wicker Park, another ramen place which has gotten good reviews.

Max:
Oiistar is an Asian Fushion/Japanese restaurant. It is located on Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park. They are known for their ramen and steamed buns. First let me start with the atmosphere. It's kinda dark and modern. Definitely an asian fusion looking place. But of course, it's really cool looking. Now, let me talk about the food. We started with some steamed buns. I got the Tempura Shrimp. it comes with tiger shrimp, thai chili mayo, fennel slaw, and roasted sesame seeds. The tiger shrimp is amazing. It's perfectly cooked and delicious. The thai chili mayo really complements the tiger shrimp. The fennel slaw is about average, but goes well with the sesame seeds. After that, we all ordered ramen. I got the Musclemen ramen. It comes with mussels, onions, chili peppers, scallions, and bonito miso. The broth was a little spicy, but still tasty. I feel that they didn't need to put so much chili peppers in it though. The noodles were really good. I don't know what kind of ramen noodles they were but they were great. The overall ramen was pretty good. The service isn't the best. One of us ordered the Pozolmen. And our waiter said that it was his favorite ramen if you like it spicy. But he didn't say that it was going to be PIPING SPICY! Seriously, I tried it and it was like eating a ghost pepper fresh off the vine. And when he came back and asked us how much we like the ramen, we said that one of us got the Pozolmen and it was way too spicy. And he said - well I warned you it was going to be spicy. But that wasn't true. All he said is that it was spicy and that it was his favorite ramen. He didn't warn us about it like it was going to be REALLY spicy. But anyway, back to the review. Oiistar is overall a good restaurant, so I give 4 plates to Oiistar.

Otto:
I started with the BBQ Beef steam bun as an appetizer. I asked for it to be plain (just the meat and the bun). It was the best steam bun I have had yet. I got the Chadolemen Ramen, which was also beef and normally comes with vegetables too, but I asked for it to be just the meat and noodles and broth, which they said was no problem. It was really really good. The broth was really good, and after a while, it got to be a bit too spicy for me, but it was still amazing. It was a gigantic bowl of ramen, and I only eat a little bit of it, so we took a lot home. I would give it 4 plates.

Ruben:
It's been one whole year folks of Chicago Food Boys. hard to believe right?

So for our blogaversery lunch we went to a ramen place in wicker park called Oiistar. You might ask why ramen for our blogversery. well, we we're just in the mood for some ramen thats it. Everybody walked in with excitement. we sat down at our table not knowing what to expect. The menu i thought was very interesting they had a wide variety of buns, ramen, and some American Japanese appetizers. We all decided to get one bun and one ramen cause that's what the waiter recommended. I ordered the goki bun a barbecue beef bun. I thought it was very good the beef was a little to chewy for my taste but it was still okay. The garnish on the bun, i liked it. it went well with the beef but i would have to say my favorite part of the bun was the creme fraiche which was very sweet but not so sweet and the bun also had hot sauce so both the sauces really complimented each other very well. The ramen i ordered the chadolemen which is not on their online menu. for some reason so i had to look on yelp to see what it was called which is very weird to have a item on your physical menu but not your digital. It actually had a mix of beef brisket and ground beef which i thought was pretty good. I think i liked the broth the best, though it was spicy and had a lot of flavors that you could smell and taste. There was some bean sprouts and kimchi in the ramen to which were okay to but nothing special. I give oiistar 4 plates.

The Food Boys

Inside

Cod Steam Bun.

Max's Tempura Shrimp Steam Bun.

Ruben's Goki bun

Otto's Ramen.

Max's Musclemen Ramen.

Ruben's  Ramen

Max and Musclemen.

Slurping Ramen.

Otto and noodles.

La Creperie

Today we will be reviewing La Creperie on Clark and Diversey.

Otto:
It was a very nice evening when we went here, and the outside seating in the back was very pretty with all the string lights and the rest of the decorations. For my entree crepe, I got the very plain crepe with butter and sugar because I was just in the mood for a simple crepe. I've tried many crepes like this, and this was one of the best I've had. There's not much to explain, though, about a plain butter and sugar crepe. For dessert, I chose the caramel and salted butter crepe, and that was very good and very very caramel-y. It was sitting in a puddle of caramel when it arrived. But it was a delicious puddle. I loved it. We spent kind of a long time having dinner here, and for some reason, toward the end, we sang a couple of rounds of Row Row Row Your Boat. At the end of our meal, a man came over to us and told us how nice it was listening to us singing. It was the kind of place and the kind of night that this seemed like the right thing to do, and it was a very fun night. I would rate this place 4 plates.

Ruben:
I am always up for a good Crepe, this was my first time at La Creperie. The atmosphere of the place feels very french with little golden LED'S all over, we got a table outside on their awesome patio which is basically a back yard cause it has a garage and everything but they made it look awesome. There menu has a very wide selection of Sweet and Savory Crepes. One thing that was not so great about La Creperie is that they have very slow service probably took 40 minuets for our food to come but on the bright side our server was very nice. I got the Boeuf bourguignon which is a beef crepe with a sauce and carrots and celery. I thought my crepe was a little too saucy and heavy the sauce was so thick almost the density of Gravy, personally if my crepe has a sauce i like it to be thin. The reason why i got this crepe is that they didn't have a lot crepes that were low on dairy except the plain crepe. For desert we got a Banana Nutella and the Salted caramel. Out of the two i preferred the salted caramel it was salty it was sweet the caramel was homemade and full of flavor one of the best sweet crepes i have had. On the other hand the banana Nutella was just average. Also here is some history about La Creperie it actually burned down once and closed once in the years it's been open. La Creperie is a nice place although it is not my favorite crepe place i would go there if i was in the neighborhood i give 3.5 plates.

Max:
La Creperie is a French restaurant that is well known for their delicious crepes. La Creperie has been around since 1972. And they burned down once. But then they reopened. And last year, the chef closed the restaurant and planned to retire, but then he decided to reopen it. We came here for dinner and we thought we should go here because me and my brother Otto went here a while ago and we liked it. Though I can barely remember it, because it was such a long time ago. But let's talk about the food. We started with some escargot. It was delicious, and went really well with the bread that came with it. After that, we ordered some crepes. I got the Poulet et fromage de chèvre. It comes with     chicken, roasted tomatoes and goat cheese. The chicken was a little too dry. The roasted tomatoes were pretty good. But the goat cheese was delicious. It went very well with the roasted tomatoes. I guess all of the crepe was good except for the chicken. Also, something funny happened. For some reason we started singing Row Row Row Your Boat, and after we stopped, this older guy came up to us and told us that he was delighted to hear us sing that. It was a pretty funny experience, so I give La Creperie 4 plates.

Escargot appetizer. 

Dessert crepe.

 

Essence of India

Today Otto is reviewing Essence of India in Lincoln Square.

Otto:
We have been wanting to go here for a long time, but they are usually not open for lunch. We finally made it for dinner, and I am so glad we did, because this was pretty good Indian (although I don't know that many Indian restaurants, even though I really like it, because we usually go to the same couple of places). Everyone there was extremely nice. We got the Murg Tikka Masala (skewered boneless marinated chicken cooked with Indian spices and herbs in a cream sauce). I absolutely loved this. (I always love chicken tikka masala, and this was some of the best I've had, but once again, I haven't had it from that many places.) We also got Achari Gosh (lamb with ground cumin, rye, fennel and fenugreek).  The lamb was too tough or chewy for me, so I didn't eat very much of it. For me, it wasn't nearly as good as the chicken tikka masala. Their naan was warm and buttery and amazing, and I loved it and dipped it in my chicken tikka masala sauce, which I think is the best way to eat naan. I give them 4 plates for the food, but 5 plates for their service (they were just so very nice, they even tried to figure out a dish we had liked from another place and wrote it down for us so we can get it next time we are on Devon Avenue).